The Crossroads of Destiny
by Mirage352
Summary: Katara and Zuko are trapped together within the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se - Katara offers to heal Zuko using the water from the Spirit Oasis. What if she hadn't used it on Aang and healed Zuko instead? Zutara, rated M for mature.


Hey guys! This is a Zutara fic - and my third attempt at writing an "M" rated piece of fanfiction. This scene is from Episode 20 of Season 2(The Crossroads of Destiny) - where Katara is held captive with Zuko and she almost offers him the water from the Spirit Oasis to heal his scar. So my scenario here - what if she had actually used it? (this story is mostly from Zuko's POV). Again, this story is rated "M" for a reason(language/sex) - but if you're okay with that read on if you wish! And yea - I don't own Avatar(even though that'd be awesome, but w/e). Hope you guys enjoy this! :D

**The Crossroads of Destiny**

Katara was positively livid. Or confused. Either way, Zuko was already sick of her nagging.

"Why'd they throw you in here?" She folded her arms and turned away from him. "Oh wait, let me guess - it's a trap! So when Aang shows up to help me you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation's clutches!" She glared at him, her arms up and fingers curled at him - an imitation of claws.

At this point he wanted her to just shut up and let him sort through what exactly he could do to get them out of the place they were both currently trapped in. He was about to verbalize these thoughts, but realized it would do him no good to talk. She probably wouldn't listen to him anyway.

"You're a terrible person, you know that!?" She was staring daggers into his back, walking around in animated circles as a wolf to its prey. "Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace!" She stormed to the other end of the cave."But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!"

He had had enough. But he needed to keep himself under control.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Surprisingly, the statement had come out a lot more calmer than Zuko had anticipated.

"I don't?" She glared at him incredulously. "How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally!" She turned on her heal, crouching to the earthen floor.

"...The Fire Nation took my mother away from me!"

He could tell she was crying - her voice had trembled slightly as she had spoken. It took him a slight moment to digest what she had just told him. Her mother had died...because of the Fire Nation. He was used to hearing bullshit like this from almost every peasant or civilian he came across, but this seemed a sort of different situation given the circumstance they were both in. Instinctively, he turned to her.

"I'm sorry."

Her head was between her arms as she sobbed, her hands grasping at her knees. He continued. "That's something we have in common."

Zuko saw her head raise, her sobs quieter. She turned to look at him, trying to wipe her tears away quickly. She approached him slightly, her head down. He stood up and turned away from her.

He knew she was staring at him. He pictured her azure eyes, calculating his statement as if to find merit or fallibility. For a moment, none of them spoke. Using his peripherals, he could see her standing behind him but for some reason her face had softened. It was almost the facial expression he'd seen her with when she was around the Avatar...

"...I'm sorry I yelled at you before." She was now leaning against one of the mineral deposits, her form luminescent.

"It doesn't matter."

"It's just that...for so long now whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face."

_Bluntly put_, he thought, but her statement slightly threw him off guard.

"My face?" Zuko took a moment before understanding why it was that she would picture_ his_ face. "I see." He touched the scar around his left eye. So she thought him a monster with this scar. Who knew?

"No-! No. That's not what I meant." Her statement was soft, and also slightly believable.

He wouldn't have any of it.

"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince. Cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately...I've realized that I'm free to determine my own destiny. Even if I'll never be free of my mark."

There was a slight pause before she spoke.

"Maybe you could be free of it!"

"What?" It was his turn to look at her incredulously, his heart threatening to break out of his chest at any given moment.

"I have healing abilities!"

His heart sunk at this statement. "It's a scar. It can't be healed."

Katara removed a necklace from around her neck, a tiny but ornate bottle held at the end of it. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis of the North Pole. It has special properties, so I was saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but…" She stopped in front of him, the bottle dangling in her hand.

She was looking at him with her mouth slightly open as if to say something, and he felt slightly sick gazing at her. She barely knew him, but she was offering him a chance to heal his scar? Did she understand what she was doing - how much of an impact this would have on his life if it worked?

He was willing to take his chances with this water bender. He closed his eyes, a silent sign of approval.

He felt her fingers on his cheek, brushing the charred, ripped flesh on the left side of his face. Expecting her to remove her hand on contact, he was surprised when she did not draw away. He heard the sound of a cork and then the splash of liquid against her palm as she bent the water from the container.

"This might sting a little, but bear with me." He felt Katara's hand on his face again, only to realize that it was wet and she was actually healing him. Suddenly, he felt the sensation of burning and realized that whatever had been in the bottle might actually be working. The pain was starting to sink in and he gritted his teeth, trying to turn away from her so that she wouldn't see his weakened state.

"Zuko - it's alright, you can get through this!" He felt her hand on his shoulder, her other hand gently cupping the right side of his face so that he would turn back to face her. In the end he let her do what she wanted, grunting slightly as the pain was reinforced. The throbbing continued, and he felt her hands gently caressing his face, trailing feather light touches over his skin.

Then he heard her cry out in delight or horror, he wasn't sure which. Hopefully his scar hadn't turned twice the size that it had been or anything. Knowing his luck, that was probably the case.

"Zuko! It's...gone!"

His eyes snapped open. "It's gone?"His heart was beating wildly again. He needed to see his reflection. Anything to show his reflection. Stumbling, his eyes scanned the earthen floor for puddles of water and he quickly found one. The anticipation was almost too great. Without hesitation he thrust his face above the water, staring at the image displayed.

There was a man staring back at him. His black hair unkempt, skin of the palest white, and citrine eyes stared back into his own. There was no scar. Nothing. Not even a trace left. He gingerly touched his cheek with his hand, stepping away from the water and not fully understanding if the moment was real or not. _"It's gone...gone forever!"_ The thought kept echoing in his head, but he still could not fathom the reality of it.

"Katara. Thank you."

Before she knew what was happening, Katara felt Zuko's arms around her in an embrace. Shocked that he was being so straightforward, her eyes widened but she relaxed, closing her eyes and pressing against him. She felt small compared to his size, and she could feel his abs softly pressing into her body - the thought of this made her blush and she pulled away slightly. He did the same.

"I'm glad it worked!" She smiled up at him, her eyes glistening with strength. "There's not even a remnant or anything...this stuff works miracles!" He felt her hand on his face again, assessing the healing. This time he kept his eyes open. She gently brushed his cheek again and traced her fingers along his jawline. He tried to keep his eyes fixed on his shoes, but he stole a glance at her face and eventually just kept it there.

She had really big eyes. That wasn't a bad thing, he just hadn't noticed it before. They were a stunning shade of azure, and as she gazed at him he felt his face burn in anticipation. Anticipation to what, he had no idea. He eyes trailed down to her nose, then to her full lips - which were currently is the phase of a slight smile. It was cute. Or was it? _"Damn you Zuko, what are you thinking?"_ Mentally cursing to himself, he wondered why his mind was wandering to this sort of nonsense. This wasn't his nature. He wasn't into this type of shit!

Katara dropped her hand slowly. "Zuko, are you okay?" She was looking at him, slightly concerned.

He turned away. "I'm fine. Again, thank you for doing this."

Both of them said nothing for a moment. Then he felt the need to explain to her what she had just done for him. The meaning this evoked.

"...I never really thought I'd ever be rid of this scar. It was just something I learned to accept. It was a brand, entitled to the mundane, useless son whom my father despised and wanted desperately to abandon."

He realized then that for the first time, in a long time, he'd spoken about his father. To someone he did not fully know at all.

Katara was staring at him again, thoughtfully. "Your father wanted to abandon you?"

"Yes."

He realized then, that he would let it all out.

"My father did this to me! He scarred me! I was the child out of the two who seen as lesser and although my mother stood up for me, she disappeared - the only trace I had left of the sane part of my family! I always thought I had to live up to his or Azula's standards, but now I see that I don't need to. Uncle was right, all along..."

_"Wow, what a fucking long speech."_ Zuko mentally cursed to himself yet again, regretting everything that he had just said. Would Katara think lesser of him now that he had let his story out to her? Would she regard him as weak, vulnerable? Would she go tell all her little friends about his story?

Katara was silent for a moment. Slowly she approached him, gently clasping his hands. "Zuko, I had no idea that your father did this to you. That is utterly cruel. I've had my share in scarring experiences too...they may not be physically visible, but they're there, within me." Remembering Aang in his Avatar state was definitely one of those scarring events she had been describing, and she cringed at the thought of it. Zuko seemed to notice too, though he did not voice this observation."If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here. Don't ever forget that."

There was passion in her eyes - he had seen it before when he'd seen her fighting at times, but not like this. She was looking at him, and him only. He knew as he returned her gaze that she had given her word and it was the truth. Something about her gaze compelled him to trust her, although they were pretty much strangers. Not only that, but her compassion for others was great...almost too great. She gave him a shy smile. As they both locked eyes in silence, Zuko couldn't help but feel drawn to her. Then, he had a sudden impulse. He wasn't sure it was good or bad, but he could tell from the way that she was gazing at him that she liked what she saw.

He moved closer to her, until they were face to face. Katara looked at him, slightly confused - her eyes wide with a little concern. With his right arm he pushed her gently against one of the larger mineral deposits, and quickly captured her lips with his own.

She had tried to say something but it was muffled, her hands pressed into his chest at the close contact. Her eyes were wide with shock but he saw them slowly close. He could feel her pulse quicken as placed one hand against the deposit and the other to gently angle her face towards his so he could have more of her.

Suddenly, he felt a hard slap against his face. Zuko opened his eyes to find himself thrown against the hard earth, Katara standing over him with water whips in her hands, her pouch for water bending close by. "Zuko! What are you trying to do?"

He exhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing. Sitting up and running a hand through his untamed hair, he resumed looking at her. "I'm sorry! It was an impulse...I don't know what happened-"

"This is wrong...this shouldn't happen! Just because I healed you doesn't mean that you can take advantage of me!" Katara practically spat, sounding thoroughly angry with him. He reeled a little at this. She was animating the situation, but then again, he had kind of just assaulted her with no fair warning…

"I said I was sorry! What do you mean 'this shouldn't happen?' " In all honesty, the way she had said it before slightly irritated him. Was there something else that was wrong with him that made him not good enough for her?

Katara slapped a hand to her forehead, her eyes closed in frustration. "It just shouldn't, okay? You're a fire bender, you're from the Fire Nation! I'm a water bender, I can't do this with someone like you!"

He knew then by the tone of her voice that he could take advantage of the situation. If his assumptions were correct, then Katara was a fighter. She wouldn't let him get to her easily - and it was actually this that made him yearn for her even more. Smirking, he stood up. As he did Katara made a stance, her water bending pouch close at hand.

When he began walking towards her, she lashed out at him again with the water. Knowing she would attempt this, he dodged it, running at her with flames erupting from his fists which he shot at her pouch, trying to get it out of her grasp. Immediately she could tell what he was trying to do, launching herself in the other direction and using the puddles below her to shield herself from the flames. Before she had time to react, Zuko was behind her, and he quickly grabbed hold of her wrists from behind, twisting until she dropped her pouch. He then pulled her into him gently from behind, one arm containing both her failing arms, and the other at her waist. She was breathing heavily and he could see beads of sweat dripping down her face as he held her.

"Zuko, stop this now!" She stated it with authority, but he could hear her voice slightly falter.

"Why are you resisting me Katara?" He whispered seductively into her ear, and he felt her slightly shiver as he trailed soft kisses along the side of her neck. He felt her struggle after he had done this, and before he knew it, she kicked out at him.

_"Fuck!"_ He recoiled as she came into contact with his genitals, and immediately she broke free. "What the fuck - why did you do that?!" He swore aloud, slightly angry that she'd kicked him pretty good, but even more angry that she'd gotten away from him.

"I'm not going to wait around and just let you hold me hostage - why else?" Katara said hotly, with a sort of disgusted tone. He growled slightly at this remark.

"I'm not trying to hurt you Katara! I just want-"

"Enough, princey! Just wait until Aang shows up-"

"Will you just hear me out?" Another plan was forming in his head. She wouldn't be able to get out of this one.

She looked up cautiously at him, still poised in the same annoying water bending pose.

"Do you have anymore of that stuff you used to heal my scar?"

Katara gazed at him slightly, her eyes narrow. "There is some left - but that has nothing to do with what we're-!"

She trailed off when she noticed him starting to untie the sash of his robe and he removed it, letting it fall to the floor. She noticed he was naked from the waist up, wearing nothing else but a pair of long black breeches. He bent to the floor, cupping the water from a puddle and splashing it onto his face. As he did this, Katara couldn't help but stare at his body. He was in excellent physical shape as far as she was concerned, but it wasn't like looking at Aang or Sokka.

His chest was a toned, alabaster white. The muscles in his arms glistened as he pulled water from the puddle again, moistening them. Running a wet hand through his hair she saw his abdomen twist, displaying his defined stomach muscles, which looked like they'd been developed through years of hard training. When he looked up at her, Katara then realized she was staring and quickly averted her eyes, trying to focus her gaze elsewhere. Then she noticed it. There was a huge scar across the midsection of his body - and it looked to be even more detrimental to that of the one that had been around his eye. In the moment, she could not help but feel sorry for him - enduring all of the pain his father had caused him. She sighed quietly but sadly, without actually realizing she had.

"Katara? Are you okay?" He could see she was slightly flustered, her face a little flushed.

"I'm fine." There was a slight pause before she turned away from him. "You can come over here when you're ready so that I can heal your other scar."

He smirked inwardly, knowing that she was affected by his previous actions. He gently approached her, waiting for her instruction.

"You'll need to lay down." Katara motioned to one of the mineral deposits, in which he propped himself up against.

As she turned to retrieve her bottle, he gazed at her. She was plain, but beautiful. Her features seemed exotic to him - the darkened skin, bright, crystalline eyes, her wavy brown hair. She was so different from all of the other bland Fire Nation girls. His eyes dipped lower and he took note of the size of her breasts, her slim figure. She was slightly biting her lower lip in concentration of pouring the rest of the mixture out of the bottle and Zuko had to admit it was sexy. An image of Katara in Fire Nation clothing grazed his mind and he felt his growing erection twitch at the thought. His arousal became worse when she began to touch him, her fingers gently tracing the scar on his chest.

"Did your father give you this scar as well?" Her voice sounded sympathetic as she absent mindedly traced the scar with her fingers. The feeling of her touching his skin was leaving him slightly breathless and he tried to maintain it steadily, waiting until she had completed the healing. All he could do was nod in response to her question, as he gazed at her touching him. She slowly looked up again, and he dared to return the stare.

There was something about him. Katara had never actually known the hardship and pain he had suffered as a child, and inside she felt an unwavering need to help him. She had no idea why, but she felt it. The way he had let himself out to her - someone he didn't even know, had created a sort of mutual trust for him within her. As she gazed into his citrine eyes, she couldn't help but notice that Zuko looked far better without his scar. Almost too perfect. She remembered when he had kissed her along the neck and blushed. Why would Zuko do that to someone like her?

Dismissing the thought, she bent what was left of the Spirit Oasis water out of the container and it hovered slightly in her palm, Zuko gazing at her all the while. Poising her hand above his scar, the glowing water settled on it and she saw him close his eyes, taking in the pain. The glowing faded after a short while, and she noticed this scar too, had gone. Absent mindedly, she gently reached out and touched where the scar had once been, her fingers soft against his skin.

Zuko on the other hand, was not so used to having a girl touch him like this - let alone one he actually found this attractive. If anything, he should have been happy that this scar was gone too, but his attention was on the water bender curiously exploring his chest. She looked fascinated at the fact she had healed him, and her touches were driving him over the edge. Other images of her doing explicit things to him flashed across his mind, and he felt himself more aroused than ever, his pants becoming tight.

Before she even had time to react, he reached out to gently but forcefully grab her by her wrists and pull her into him, his lips finding her own. Katara gasped indignantly under him, but when she did not draw away he smirked, knowing she was perhaps giving into him finally.

Katara felt herself breathing heavily as she felt his lips move from hers to the side of her neck, then just beneath her ear. She felt his hand trail down her neck, dipping lower into the sides of her robe. She tensed._ "Katara, don't let him do this to you, what are you thinking?!"_ she practically screamed at herself internally. _"He's the enemy - he's been trying to kill Aang for so long!"_ Yet her gut feeling was telling her otherwise. She couldn't believe she was fraternizing with the enemy - no, making out with the enemy! He continued to kiss her, his tongue trailing past her lips, seeking entry. After a moment she gave it to him, and their tongues dueled passionately.

When she did nothing to move away from him, his hand continued down, undoing her robe - her bare shoulders and stomach meeting with the frozen air of the caverns. She gazed up at him to find him still smirking, as if he were thoroughly enjoying the effect he had on her. Blushing, she gave him a half-glare before trying to turn away but he pulled her back to him firmly, kissing her again.

Her clothes were irritating him, and he needed to dispose of them. She was wearing white bindings across the top of her torso and as leggings. Zuko let his hands trail across of the top of her shoulders before undoing the fold of her wrappings across her chest, her breasts exposed to him. When he closed his mouth around one of her nipples Katara leaned back, sighing. His hand found her other breast and massaged it, gently pinching her nipple a few times. As she gasped at this, Zuko felt himself become harder, her vocalizing driving his erection harder against his pants. He kissed her stomach tenderly after playing with her breasts, his hand skimming across her navel and gently hooking onto her leggings. Immediately, she tensed.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He coaxed her gently, placing soft kisses along her neck again, waiting until he felt her at ease. As her helped her slip out of her leggings, he mentally took note that Katara hadn't put up much of a fight at all since they'd started kissing, which was unusual. She was wearing nothing but a white thong and he drank the sight of her. She was filled out in all the right places, and he couldn't think of another word to describe her but _perfection_. "You're beautiful, Katara." he stated, and as he did, Katara couldn't help but feel he was genuinely telling the truth.

Before he had time to get back to her, she took in his distraction of her and turned her attention to him, sliding her fingers down his chest. She saw him recoil a little. She trailed kisses down his abs, running her hands over the lean muscles of his arms, her hand then finding his right nipple and she pinched it playfully. It was her turn to smirk mischievously when he groaned at her touch, his eyes narrow as he panted, his breathing irregular.

Her hands trailed lower and she glided her hands over his erection, which was fully engorged underneath his pants. Zuko could do nothing but watch helplessly as she trailed feather light touches across it. When she squeezed him, his eyes immediately closed and he clenched his teeth, another groan escaping his lips - longer this time. She gently massaged him a little before he felt her hands hooked in his breeches, and before he had time to react, she'd pulled them off.

His erection was bigger than she had anticipated, and the length of it put her slightly at a standstill - as she had never actually seen one before. Katara continued to stroke his member, gently massaging and letting her hands go where she found Zuko vocalized the most. When she started to pump him he gasped out, unable to control himself. She could feel precum at his tip as she continued and smirked up at him again, knowing she was besting him. Then, slowly and slightly unsure about what she was about to do, she took him into her mouth. Zuko lost it, groaning loudly as she sucked and fondled. A sheen of sweat covered his body, and she noticed him desperately groping, looking for something to do with his right arm - fisting the hard earth, then covering his eyes with his hand.

From her tentativeness Zuko had already come to the conclusion that Katara was still a virgin. However, the fact that she was able to cause these sensations within him was slightly playing with his head. Although she was doing well for someone inexperienced, he felt annoyed that she was able to manipulate him in this way, she had him wrapped around her finger in the moment. The fact that she was smirking at him made him even more aggravated. Although he did like seeing her in control at times, and as much as he liked the feeling of her on him, there was something inside of him that wouldn't let him fully yield to her. She would not dominate him.

The moment she paused, Zuko lashed out and pulled Katara to him, his mouth crushed to hers. Startled, she continued to kiss him, his mouth moving to her neck again, where she knew he would leave bruises. His hands trailed down towards her thong, and he firmly pressed his right hand along the side of her left thigh. She gasped aloud, and he smiled into her shoulder mischievously. His hand continued to brush along the inner walls of her thighs. Without warning, he gently brushed his fingers over her entrance and Katara cried out."You're so wet." He whispered into her ear seductively, and he could see her panting, colour rising to her cheeks at his statement.

She flinched at his touch a little, but her hips pressed towards his. Zuko was surprised that she was as wet as she was, her thong was almost soaked through. He continued to stroke her and when he couldn't take it any longer, practically almost ripped the clothing off of her body. He saw her shrink back a little, knowing she was fully exposed to him but he pulled her to him, gently trailing a line under her breasts with his finger and massaging them until she was somewhat at ease again.

He trailed his fingers down again gently massaging her folds, and then slowly slipped a finger into her. She gasped a little, her eyes closed and her panting arousing him further. He moved himself further into her, his erection pressed into her stomach and she gasped again, the feeling of him against her overwhelming. She lifted her hips to him as he moved his finger back and forth. When she felt his tongue where his finger had been, she moaned loudly. "Shhh." He gently tried to coax her again, moving up and kissing her again to soothe her - she was quite a loud one.

As he continued the foreplay to her entrance, he waited until he decided she was wet enough before turning her quickly onto all fours.

Katara was gasping, but she glanced over her shoulder at him. "Wait...Zuko, I-"

"It's okay." Zuko hushed her gently and she looked down, saying nothing. He noticed that she was slightly forlorn, realizing that he had realized that she hadn't had this sort of experience before. "It's alright Katara, it doesn't matter to me." he stated, kissing her at the corner of her mouth - a gesture of reassurance. He felt her smile into his lips after a moment, and he drew back to look at her. Both of them locked eyes.

"Do you trust me?" He looked at her steadily but with concern.

She was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Zuko, I shouldn't have done this-"

He cut her off quietly. "Katara. Do you want this?"

She looked at him, stressed. "This isn't right - you're from the Fire Nation, you've tried to kill Aang-!"

He grabbed her wrists and pulled her to him again so that they were face to face. "Quit thinking about what the Avatar would want, or what Nation I'm from, or whatever else there is! I asked you, and you only - is this what _you_ want?"

She was silent for a moment. He could see she was internally struggling with herself. Finally she looked up at him, her eyes locked with his.

"I trust you."

Zuko looked at her. Her eyes were passionate, the same way he had seen them when they had been talking about his past. He knew from this look that she was telling the truth. He would try to make this as easy for her as possible. She was too beautiful, too kind and too innocent for him to treat her in anyway but a goddess.

Taking her back in his arms, he worked her up again - fondling her breasts, kissing her, teasing her between her legs until he felt she was wet enough again. Setting his tip at her entrance, he gently massaged it over her, letting her get a slight feel for it. Although he felt the need to just wantonly thrust away into her, he knew that she was inexperienced and it didn't exactly appeal to him if she'd be scarred for life if he hurt her.

Finally, he decided it was time. "Push back against me." he instructed, and she did as she was told. As he slid inside of her both of them gasped. He heard her moan a little, and he didn't push further. Just so that she'd get used to it a little more, he did a few thrusts at that level, not fully thrusting all the way, but pushing further each time. Finally, he decided it was time.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded after a minute, their eyes locking. He nodded back.

Grasping both her shoulder and her hip, he pushed hard, filling her. Katara cried out, unable to contain herself. Immediately Zuko felt her pain as his own and stopped momentarily. After a moment he brought her up to face him, tears gently cascading down her face. She noticed him looking at her sorrowfully and she turned away, not wanting him to see her. He cupped her face and turned it so that they were looking at one another. With his thumb he gingerly wiped the tears away from her face, gently placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry." he breathed quietly.

Katara felt him embrace her. "It's alright." As she said this, Zuko looked at her, concern still in his eyes. "I want you to continue." As she gave him the command, he did not see fallibility in the depths of her crystalline eyes, and so, took her advice.

He pushed again, filling every inch of her and he heard her suck in her breath. Zuko experimentally shifted his hips and Katara moaned- her passage becoming more and more wet as they moved together. At this point he was unable to control his need, and he thrust harder. She wailed his name and begged him to go faster. He continued on, complying to her need as he continued to penetrate her quickly before momentarily stopping, then thrusting away again. The sensation and pleasure was building until Zuko finally shuddered, holding still for a moment before collapsing onto Katara's back, driving her down - both of them reaching climax.

Both lay still afterwards, beside one another breathing hard. Zuko seemed to catch his breath faster and he brought her up to kiss her, gently biting her lower lip. He could see she was flushed, but something was on her mind - she kept avoiding his eyes. "What's wrong, Katara?"

She looked up at him after a moment. "Why me?"

Zuko looked at her perplexed. "What do you mean?"

Katara looked down. "Zuko, we're enemies...why would you even consider having sex with me? You hate Aang, you've tried to kill us on more than one occasion, I just don't understand you!" She looked so confused, angry and almost ashamed with herself for what she had done.

Zuko gazed at her for a moment. Laying on the floor, he put his hands behind his head. "Come here." he said simply. Katara looked at him for a moment before joining him, resting her head on his chest, her hand massaging his lean muscles.

"You've shown me more kindness than a lot of people ever have." Zuko finally managed to say, despite the fact he knew he sounded like a weakling about sharing his feelings. "The scars I had gave me an identity that I had to put up with all of my life, and I hated every single fucking day of it." After a moment, he gently sat up to look at her and Katara followed him.

"You've given me a new identity Katara. My uncle told me that I can choose my own destiny, but you've helped me to create a new one." He scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed about his next line. "Your...your actions mean far more to me than you will ever understand…so, thank you."

Katara stood still, gazing at him. Before he knew it, she flung her arms around him in an embrace. Zuko stood a little stunned at this, but melted into the embrace, holding her affectionately.

Suddenly, there was a tremendous explosion on the side of the wall.

"What the-?" Zuko looked up in curiosity and Katara gazed wide eyed at all the commotion.

The dust cleared, and to both Zuko and Katara's horror, Aang stood there, along with Zuko's uncle, Iroh.

"Katara, there you are - KATARA! What are you doing with Zuko?" Aang practically jumped back, his face red as he quickly turned away from the couple embracing each other. The dust from the commotion was rather thick, and Katara realized she only had minutes to spare before both Iroh and Aang could see her stark naked.

"Aang! Oh my gosh, its not what you think!" Katara flushed hotly, grabbing her clothes/robe quickly.

Zuko could see his uncle looking at him rather incredulously. "Uncle! What the-this isn't what it looks like-!" Zuko stammered, his face bright red, trying to reach for his clothes as well.

"Prince Zuko? " Iroh must have seen him.

"I'll be outside!" Aang called from a distance, and Katara realized he was in fact, already outside. Quickly gathering her things as she had already gotten dressed, she ran, taking one last look at Zuko before she existed the cave. How she would explain this to Aang, Toph, and Sokka was gonna be one hell of a conversation.

Zuko stared as she left him in the dust, blinking for a few moments. Getting up, he pulled on his clothes. "Are you ready?" His uncle asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Zuko shot back in disgust, realizing his uncle had noticed he was naked. Iroh turned, finally going to him.

"Well, well - Prince Zuko, I didn't know you were fond of the water bender." Iroh smiled. Then, he seemed to have noticed something else. "Zuko! Your scar! Where on earth did it go?"

Zuko turned away scowling. "That's none of your concern...and we have much to discuss about my scar once we get out of here."

Iroh shrugged. "Come on, let's go then." The two walked forward. After a moment of silence, Iroh spoke up.

"So, how was she?"

**Author's Note:** Yea, I made Iroh say it XD Although I don't mind Katara /Aang as a couple, I really like Katara/Zuko better - I really wish they could have ended up with one another :(

So now that I've finished the show, I realized that Zuko obtains the scar on his chest after the episode described in this story - I saw fan art around and assumed he'd gotten that scar from the Agni Kai with his father earlier on. So this story is a little inaccurate since it was written before I saw the final episode, but I hope this satisfied some Zutara fans anyway. Reviews are always appreciated! :)


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